MY dps what is the problem

So my main is an afflication warlock has always been an affliction warlock and will always be. Ive been playing this game since day one with that spec and just have grown use to it. Recently i havent been putting out the dps that im use too and im wondering if there was something i was doing wrong or just the way it was.

So i read up on new warlock tips and the best routation and so forth and so on. And it seems that i am still getting sub-par dps. Or it could be im am expecting more dps than i am able to put out. Here are a few of the x-factors that could be messing me up.

1) i often go in instance where the bosses are orange to me

2) i do not have ruin yet but plan to get it once im 80

3) i often have dps who are higher lvl than me in group

Now my current roution is Shadow bolt/haunt/unstable affliction/ immolate/ corruption/shyphon life/ Curse of agony or doom then Drain life or life tap till my Haunt come back to me then start all over again.

Another thing is during a multi mob pull should i try to get all teh mobs fully dotted and risk pulling agro or should i have one mob fully dotted and scatter a few dots on the other mobs. I notice when i have one mob fully dotted and just throw corruption on the other mobs i get tons of nightfalls( instant shadow bolts) And that helps my dps alot. I seem to float around 700-850 dps but i keep being told that i should be hitting 1k dps easily. SO what am i doing wrong.

Re: MY dps what is the problem

Its not your fault. Affliction will always be pathetic in 5mans and trash. The only places you shine are bosses. Trash mobs do not live long enough to receive the full damage of your rotation. If you WANT to see some dps increase, use a destro mixed build until you hit 80.

Re: MY dps what is the problem

I have to disagree with Bored.
I have ran some heroics as a 56/0/15 raid spec and have easily been 2k+ through the entire run. This includes trash and my dps is a little higher on bosses. I have easily broken 3k on 10 man's like Vault with few buffs. I can hold a solid 2400-2500 dps self buffed on single targets, self buffed.
I have consistantly witnessed myself and other affliction locks pace, or surpass other cookie cutter specs (0/41/30, 0/40/31, or destro locks).
The biggest problem I see with affliction locks on trash is not knowing how to prioritize dots/direct damage spells on trash that dies quickly. An example being locks using CoA on mobs that live 8 seconds (common sense like that).
Corruption/haunt/shadowbolt are your friends on trash, after that it becomes rain of fire or seed of corruption depending on the amount of trash. Maybe a UA on mobs that might live 12 seconds after you load up haunt/corr. It's not hard, you just have to adjust and learn your group and how fast they down trash. After that, adapt and adjust dots/DD spells to maximize dps.

Re: MY dps what is the problem

You should be shadow bolting with ruin instead of drain life. That's where your dps loss is.
Not that your dps is ever going to be as good as on patch 25 for example in heroics, but I have done 3.7k on end boss of VH HC so it isn't all bad.

Re: MY dps what is the problem

I readily agree with the two posts above me. The only difference is that the OP is not 80. If hes running **normal** 5man instances... affliction will be blown out of the water by majority of other leveling specd classes.

Sure, once you are 80, affliction, with decent gear 2.5k is easy in a heroic. Fights like Vault where you simply stand and pewpew with minimal moving is where you are supposed to shine.

Normal 5man mobs wont even be hit by your 2nd SB. Unless, of course you are running with subpar dps groups.

Re: MY dps what is the problem

If you are looking for dps, your spec can definately use some work. I would go with a 56/0/15 spec, which doesn't involve as much drain life, but shadowbolts. I'll spell out what you need to get in your spec.

Affliction:
Imp CoA: 2/2
Suppression: 3/3
Imp Corruption: 5/5

Imp Life Tap: 2/2
Soul Siphon: 2/2

Don't get Fel Concentration. It's really a waste. You are going to be putting dots up so much, the effect of this really isn't worth the 3 points.
Do not get Imp Fear. It is not worth the 2 points.

Forget grim reach. If you get a nightfall proc, you will have to be in the destruction range to cast shadowbolt.
Nightfall: 2/2
Empowered Corruption: 3/3 Corruption is our best DoT. Buff it all you can, and keep it up as much as possible.

Shadow Embrace: 5/5
Siphon Life: 1/1
Forget CoE: It can be used rather than Imp Fear, but then you would have to curse anything you fear before you fear it. That's too much work in my opinion. Just let things run around fast. Virtually every other class has some slowing effect that doesn't require talents. Let them handle slowing things down.

Next tier is right on.

Eradication: 3/3
Contagion: 5/5
Dark Pact: 1/1

Forget Howl of Terror: If you have to use it in instances, something is wrong.
Malediction: 3/3: 3% extra damage is pretty good

Of course you want UA.
Completely fill in Death's Embrace and Pandemic. The last two tiers are fine.

Skip over the Demonology tree. The health buff isn't worth it in instances. If you want to PvP, then you need a completely different spec. There is enough gold going around that you should be able to pay for a respec if you want to seriously PvP.

Destruction Tree:

Bane: 5/5. Time is against you with affliction. Get your spells out quickly.
Imp Shadow Bolt: 2/5 : This is mainly a filler to get you to ruin.

You can only daze trash, not bosses. There is no reason to get aftermath; 0/5
Molten Core: 0/3
Cataclysm: 3/3

Forget shadow burn. It not useful in instances, and you have plenty of AoE abilities to choose from.
Ruin: 5/5 Extra Crit damage is amazing if you are using shadowbolts.

As for rotation, what you are doing is good. I suggest using shadowbolt rather than drain life. You have talents that improve it greatly. I suggest using shadow bolt until you run somewhat low on mana. Then life tap your mana back up. After that you can drain life until you are at full health again. Rinse, and repeat.

There is a great thread for affliction locks on the EJ forums. I think anyone who wants to be affliction should read over this very well.

Re: MY dps what is the problem

kozikk, I am same spec except imp drain soul over imp lifetap. I have 4 piece t7.5 so I lifetap once a rotation to get the 90sp for all my coa/sl and 50% of my ua/immo casts. I am never anywhere close to oom so i don't see the need for the extra mana on lifetap. The threat reduction is talent however is a must for those soulshatter resists, or fights with an aggro drop where 1 soulshatter isnt enough. This may not be the cases for all locks but it is the case when you have 2500sp 21%crit selfbuffed with flask.

Re: MY dps what is the problem

Originally Posted by bored059

I readily agree with the two posts above me. The only difference is that the OP is not 80. If hes running **normal** 5man instances... affliction will be blown out of the water by majority of other leveling specd classes.

Sure, once you are 80, affliction, with decent gear 2.5k is easy in a heroic. Fights like Vault where you simply stand and pewpew with minimal moving is where you are supposed to shine.

Normal 5man mobs wont even be hit by your 2nd SB. Unless, of course you are running with subpar dps groups.

pretty much

My balance druid is critting starfires for 8k+ at 72... good luck getting dots to last full duration

Re: MY dps what is the problem

How I would dps as an affliction lock leveling in instances will vary with the group make up. For example if you have a group that follows a kill order i.e. Skull, X, star then circle
I would put shorter duration dots on the first two targets then fully dot up the last two targets. As you already mentioned you will also get more shadow bolt procs. The one minor problem with this method is if you have a tank that can not hold aggro on several targets at once. Most tanks don't have trouble with this but while you are leveling it is rare to find a tank that is correctly spec'ed for tanking.

If you have an group that kills most trash mobs with aoe damage then i would use rain of fire after applying 1-2 short duration dots to 1-2 targets.

You have about 19 talent points that I would move if I were focusing on dealing more damage. I also understand how the talents are extremely useful for leveling and that is most likely the reason you have them.